This year, there are a number of age-eligible ladies skating senior that will probably be in line before Agnes. I'm thinking Gao, Dobbs, and Gilles, if they all do well in the FS tomorrow. All have experience this season in front of international judges. I'd put Maxwell in there also, but she is injured and I don't know if it's season-ending or not, plus I doubt that USFS would pass over one of the other above ladies for her.

Zawadzki will hopefully get JGP assignments for next season, and start building that international competitive resume.

I just saw a picture of the Jr. ladies podium on icenetwork and that Agnes girl is an amazon! How tall is she? She looks a foot taller than everyone else and must be around 5'8", amazing she can land those jumps!

I just saw a picture of the Jr. ladies podium on icenetwork and that Agnes girl is an amazon! How tall is she? She looks a foot taller than everyone else and must be around 5'8", amazing she can land those jumps!

I don't think she's that tall. Podium shots are pretty misleading -- Yasmin, at least, is seriously tiny, and the other two girls were standing 2-3 steps below her.

Agnes Zawadzki has grown quite a bit in the past two years. But fortunately for her, her growth was gradual, not in huge spurts, so her jumping wasn't affected. Agnes isn't quite that tall---I'd say she's about 5'4"-5'5". The tallest Junior skater by far is Marissa Secundy. She's easily 5'8", and towers over everyone, including her coach Zakrajec.

About Kiri Baga: I saw her at the Liberty summer competition, and she was very tiny, with little short legs. I was shocked to see that she had grown at least three inches in the past 6 months, and all in her legs. I think that's the reason why her jumps have suddenly gone south. Kiri's going to go through the same kind of adjustment that Mirai did after her sudden huge growth spurt a year and a half ago.

I just saw Nina Jiang's FS at National's. She doubled her 2nd 3S, but otherwise she skated a very good program. She grew a lot artistically/presentation-wise, and a lot less nervous in the FS than in the SP, where she seemed to never settle down. She has a very solid 3T and 3S, and a big 2A. Too bad she singled her 2A in the SP, otherwise she'd be on the podium. She definitely looked more mature than her 12 years there, on center ice in that big stadium.

Nina has long arms and legs, and moves quickly and lightly over the ice -- reminds me of a young Mirai Nagasu. Actually, she also has a lyrical sense of musicality, like a young Caroline Zhang. It's a great combination! She doesn't yet have the harder triples, but at 12 she's doing quite well. I wonder if she will get assigned to a JGP in the fall. She will have turned 13 in time (April). And I guess she will almost surely stay junior next year. She probably won't turn senior until she medals at JGP or JW, so as to be guaranteed of a GP spot. I guess her season is over now. I hope she can work on the harder triples over the summer and make them consistent enough to put into programs. I hear that her 3 loop is getting close.

ETA: oh, my goodness, she gives the cutest interview later on the in IN coverage. She says, "... I wanted to show out there that I have matured, that I have grown up, and I can do what I need to do..." and nods her head authoritatively as she says this. Then she's asked about the Olympics in 4 years, and she says she sees herself there as a competitor...

Shades of how Caroline was promoted when she first came on the junior scene (they're exactly one Olympic cycle apart). Hope it won't end as disappointingly in four years... But I think Nina is better positioned. She has better speed and jump technique than Caroline, and is skating with a more grown-up body at 12 than Caroline was at 12.

ETA2: maybe a cross between a young Caroline and young Mirai is a young Yu-na? :P Now that I think about it, I think it is a young Yu-na that she reminds me the most of. But Yu-na already had all 5 triples by 12. Yu-na really was a prodigy...

Agnes Zawadzki has *very* high jumps. It's really impressive how much height she gets, wow! But she looks like reedy waif out there -- I guess she will fill out soon with more womanly curves. I'm curious to see how that will affect her jumping, she's really tall already. But I suppose given that she gets so much height on her jumps, she has more cushion than most girls to weather through her body changes.

^ I'm excited to see how Nina develops. She seems like a very promising skater. I love her Chicago SP, but I've only seen it from last year... I wish I could watch this year's programs, but I don't have Icenetwork..